This Blog monitors all terror activities of Indian Naxals ie., PWG (Peoples War Group) and Government policies to tackle naxal menace . PWG's current goal is to destablize India and Sub-Continent by a well coordinated strategy with the help of international revolutionaries and covert support from Pakistan and China .

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Raipur, April 26 (IANS) Congress MP Rahul Gandhi put a poser before non-government organizations (NGOs) and tribal youth cadre of the party during his stay in Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-hit Bastar region - “Why is Maoism growing in the state?” Gandhi, who reached the state Friday on a two-day visit as part of his ‘Discover India’ tour of far-flung areas of the country, met a few NGO delegations and tribal youth cadres of the Congress Friday night at the Bastar district headquarters, Jagdalpur, and asked about the reasons behind the rising insurgency in the mineral rich state.

The Congress general secretary also wanted to know the facts about reports that rogue elements have virtually taken over the state government-backed controversial civil militia movement, Salwa Judum, launched in June 2005 in Bastar region to counter guerrillas.

Congress sources said that NGOS and party local tribal youths informed Gandhi that “decades of total neglect of local tribal masses by various governments in welfare schemes and the government’s failure to work out a proper plan for the social and economic development of tribals have nurtured Maoism”.

Some senior tribal cadres of the party drew Gandhi’s attention towards state Congress leader Mahendra Karma, who is also leader of the opposition in the state assembly.

“Karma is leading a movement which is causing a great rift in the state unit because majority of party leaders, included former chief minister Ajit Jogi, want to keep the Congress away from the Salwa Judum as it has resulted in the killings of hundreds of innocent tribals in the past three years,” Congress sources informed IANS.

The local Congress politicians also informed Gandhi about the massive mismanagement by the Bharatiya Janata Party state government in the central government’s flagship scheme, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) that guarantees 100 days job in a year to a member of each rural household.

“After getting complaints in NREGS, Rahul Gandhi looked towards state president Charandas Mahant, who told Gandhi that he had formed party panels at the local level to find the truth behind the alleged irregularities, but the party cadres rejected Mahant’s statement, saying that he was lying.”

New Delhi, April 23: Threat to the internal security from the Left-wing extremism has shown a rise in 2007. The Union home ministry has admitted in its status paper on Naxal activities that 696 casualties have been reported during 1,565 incidents in 2007, in comparison to 678 deaths in 1,509 cases of violence in 2006.

The home ministry’s special document has highlighted the Centre’s growing concern over the sprawling vacancies in state police forces, noting that such vacancies need to be filled-up to improve the police-population ratio in consonance with the law and order requirements. The higher number of incidents and casualties in the two worst-hit states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have been attributed to the increased use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and landmines by Naxalities, attacks on security forces and counter operations by security forces against the ultras, says the MHA. Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand together accounted for 68 per cent of the total incidents and over 75 per cent of the total casualties in 2007.

Stating that the four states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa together account for over 80 per cent of the cases, the MHA said that these four states accounted for 1,266 incidents. Similarly, out of the total casualty of 696, the four states together claimed 610 lives, said the MHA document. However, the number of police stations affected in 2007 fell to 361 compared to 395 in 2006, it said.

To counter the mounting attacks by Naxals, the MHA said the security establishment has asked the states to secure police station buildings, strengthen state intelligence set-ups and raise specialised units or task forces trained in counter-insurgency and jungle warfare.

The ministry has also directed the state governments to ensure adequate provisions in state police budget for equipment, weaponry, mobility, communication, training, police buildings and forensic science.

The states have also been asked to expedite investigation and prosecution of Naxalite crimes, the status paper said.

NAGPUR: The prolonged wait for the services of a helicopter in the state anti-naxal operation (ANO) cell operating against the Maoist insurgency has just stretched for another month or two. The 10-seater Pawan Hans Dauphin N3 chopper, which had arrived in the city to aide the ANO, has reportedly been grounded by the extreme heat.

This helicopter had been requisitioned with much effort by the ANO to help during operations against the outlaws in the forested terrain of eastern Vidarbha. Sources have informed that the helicopter has reportedly developed some 'technical snag' due to the high temperatures in the region.

Sources in ANO claimed that the high atmospheric heat has lowered the payload capacity of the chopper, meaning the chopper cannot lift the weight it is meant to carry. The helicopter has been sourced from the state-owned Pawan Hans Helicopters limited. A technical team from the company is reportedly facing a testing time in getting the chopper airborne with the expected load due to the lowered payload capacity. "The technical and expert teams are attending to the problem, and it is likely to get sorted out soon," said a senior ANO officer on condition of anonymity.

Aviation experts though do not support the hopeful statements of the ANO officers. "When the outside temperature is high, the air density is low. This low-density air entering the engine means that the fuel combustion is low," said Kapil Mohan, an aircraft maintenance engineer. He added, "When the fuel combustion is low, the efficiency of the engine also goes down. And in effect, the power generated by the engine is insufficient for the chopper to get air-borne with the expected load."

Mohan was of the opinion that this being a tricky problem, the ANO may just have to wait for the temperatures to go down before their chopper takes off.

The attack was carried out near Kirandul in the state’s Dantewada District where the insurgents have been running a de-facto administration for years.“Armed rebels attacked Essar Steel’s iron ore facility and created havoc for hours, by setting at least 53 trucks and three heavy machines on fire, in a raid that ended in the early hours of Friday,” R. K. Vij, Inspector General of Police of Bastar range, told media.

The plant supplies high quality iron ore from its 8 million tonne per annum (MTPA) unit to the pellet plant at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.According to police, rebels overpowered a few employees working in the plant during night shift and then sprayed diesel on vehicles and set them on fire.

The rebels later slipped into the nearby forest.The rebels left pamphlets at the attack site saying their act was to protest transportation of local rare natural resource iron ore to outside the state and the country.Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is on a four-day visit to tribal pockets in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. (ANI)

The police may have their own reasons for patting themselves for swooping on a prime catch like Nagori but isn't it surprising that the banned organization carried out its clandestine activities for so many years without the knowledge of our security and intelligence agencies?

The recent events on terror front have heightened the threat perception for India. What is needed is a political will to counter it effectively.Though it needs no reiteration that the country has been the target of some of the most dreaded terrorist attacks, yet the arrests of about 13 leaders of the banned outfit SIMI reveals a new face of terror where young and educated recruits are brainwashed to believe that India can be converted into an Islamic country through terror. That the threat has become more serious is relevant in the light of the fact that the arrest of these activists uncovers a terror trail stretching from MP to Mumbai, Karnataka, Delhi and other important cities across India. Indeed, the fast spreading terror tentacles of SIMI give a clear picture of the entrenchment of radical Islamists in our country.

Obviously, the arrested SIMI leaders including the National Secretary General Safdar Nagori have been operating with impunity in the last many years across the country. They have been effectively spreading their tentacles throughout India since 2003 either by single-handedly carrying out terror strikes or by giving logistic support to Pak-based terror groups like Lashker, Jaish and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami. Interrogations have unmasked the fact that SIMI members were hand in glove with LeT while planning and executing serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in which more than 180 people were killed. There are also strong reasons to believe that they have been masterminding almost all major terrorist strikes in the country for the last four years. Indeed, Indian concerns have found resonance in the revelation that the SIMI leaders were plotting to carry out major terror strikes in Mumbai, Banglore, Hyderabad and also the ultimate tourist destination, Goa.

The outfit's top leaders were arrested in a pre-dawn bust as part of a special police tip off for being involved in weapons' procurement and illegal financing of the organization. While all of them were remanded to police custody, more swoops are in the offing in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Home ministry sources have asserted that the terrorist group chose Mumbai because of its commercial viability for India. Likewise, other three cities were targeted due to their tourism potential. Close on the heels of the reports that Karnataka's Jungles were being used by Pak-based terrorists for training their cadres, a similar training camp was found 35 kilometers from Indore where Jihadi and explosive training was conducted. "We were told the camp trained the SIMI activists from Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka and a few other states," SP Chanchal Sarkar is reported to have said. In fact, during the preliminary investigations police have found that the SIMI activists under the leadership of its former chief had arrived in Indore for the outfit's annual meeting to finalize the training programme for its members. The same has been voiced by the Indore Range IG Anil Kumar. The arrest of seven more SIMI activists from Madhya Pradesh underlines the fact that the Jihadis have succeeded in expanding their theatre of violence without any hindrance. The nabbing of the key leaders of the banned outfit gives just a peek of the real dimension of penetration of this terrorist organization in Madhya Pradesh. But of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg. One can only imagine how many more terrorists are waiting in the wings and raring to rage a war on the state and innocent civilians. It has also come to light that Nagori and his terror merchants were planning to target senior BJP leaders, including L K Advani and Narendra Modi for their alleged roles in Babri Masjid demolition and post Godhra riots respectively.

The police may have their own reasons for patting themselves for swooping on a prime catch like Nagori but isn't it surprising that the banned organization carried out its clandestine activities for so many years without the knowledge of our security and intelligence agencies? The ban came into effect in 2002 obviously did not contain the outfit's influences that went on to mastermind the 2006 Mumbai blasts that killed 187 people as well as twin blasts at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazar in 2003 killing 57 people, with much ease. One also wonders, how Nagori, who had been on a run since 2001, could avoid being arrested all these years and that too while hiding in Indore.

Interestingly, SIMI was set up in 1977 in India outside the precincts of Aligarh Muslim University campus. Initially, its aim was to provide Islamic education to the youth and also free Islam from the shackles of so called modern perversions. But things began to change drastically since 1992 after the Babri Masjid demolition. Consequently, SIMI cadres across the country showed an unprecedented rise with deep penetration in Maharashtra, Assam, Bihar and also southern states. By 2001, the outfit became the new face of terror. Incidentally, the same year the radical group was proscribed and Nagori escaped the police dragnet. By then, charges against the outfit linking it with terror activities started mounting. Reports of their alleged links Pak-based Hizbul and Bangladesh's HUJI also started piling up. Now with the latest arrests, a clear picture of the new phase of terrorism has begun to emerge.

In any case, a foreign-based Jihadi movement can't set up base unless there is a local organization at its beck and call. It was during the NDA regime that the outfit was banned close on the heels of Parliament attack. But the role played by the UPA Govt. in cracking down on terror leaves much to be desired. As the number of high profile attacks goes on increasing, so does the buzz about the government's soft on terror policy. The policies and the strategy of the Centre in dealing with the menace are pathetically inadequate to halt this dangerous drift. The timid approach of the Congress is partly due to its vote bank compulsions which invariably end up giving a long rope to Islamic Jihadists thereby hurting our national interests.

Though the dreaded outfit has also been banned officially, it still has a strong presence in India courtesy its foot soldiers in every nook and corner of the country. It may be common knowledge that the organization is active in more than 35 districts of UP , but authorities can do nothing about it. The reason is that the issue is linked to political ambitions under the false assumption that a crackdown on the outfit will not be welcomed by the Muslims across the state.

In other words, it would mean a political harakiri and the state government is most unlikely to embark on such a suicidal initiative.

It is quite disturbing that while India has been reeling under the scourge of terrorism for decades now, it is yet to put in place concrete laws which may act as preventive mechanism to deter terrorist strikes aimed at the country.

Ironically, politics is played between different parties even over such sensitive issue like national security. Coupled with that India's security apparatus as well as intelligence gathering has nothing laudable about it. What makes matters worse is imprecise investigation and ex-parte prosecution. Also the fact that a country that has been fighting terrorism for so long without a strong-anti-terror law deserves due attention.

The result of such slid-shod administration is there for all to see. Naxalism has been threatening the internal security of our country and has set up multiple bases in almost 10 states. Every year, hundreds of lives are lost in Maoist extremism. In spite of such a huge loss of life, the government is yet to acknowledge these as our internal problems.

On the other hand, India has been incompetent to halt the influx of Pak-perpetuated cross-border terrorism with the explicit aim of destabilizing the communal harmony of our country.

Having said that, there is a need to have strident anti-terror strategy in place. More than that a strong political will to counter the forces of terror is the pressing need of the hour. It is a pity that we lack the conviction to sincerely follow up our loud assertions on the ground.

Palamu (Jharkhand), April 24 (ANI): Spread over 5,000 square kilometers of area, and having a population of around 1.6 million, Palamu was once known as the bastion of Naxalism.Many believe that Naxalism started form this place in Jharkhand. Poverty and hunger helped breed Naxalism in Palamu. The government realized this and started taking steps to encourage economic development in the area.Today, the district is showing development all around.Nagendra Prasad Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Palamu, said: There is a change in the peoples lifestyle and mentality. We have adopted a holistic approach to encourage development. The future of Palamu district is very bright.The development projects that were taken up after the State came into existence seven-and-half years ago have changed the face of the district that was marred by Naxalites terror .Recent programmes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has provided employment to people of the area. At least 16 other programmes are being implemented in the district. Road have been reconstructed and damns and wells are being built. Many primary, secondary and high schools have been established.During 2007-08, 117,876 people got employment under the NREGS. Since the formation of the State, 14 big and 64 medium and small bridges have been constructed under the Gram Setu Yojna. It has benefited 300 villages of Palamu.Moreover, 4,200 wells, 400 ponds, 472 dams and 175-kilometers roads have been constructed. And, 979 schools have been established which are ensuring education to 35,000 children.The effect of this change can be noticed on residents lives.Sonam Kumari, a student, said: Earlier, there was no school in the area. Children, especially girls, were not able to go to school. They had to remain illiterate. Now, the programmes started by the State government have enabled many girls to get education.Earlier women of the area didnt move out of their houses. Today, a lot of women have started earning by becoming members of various self-help groups (SHGs). (ANI)

The Madras High Courthas ordered notice to the Tamil Nadu Home Secretary, DGP and DSP Q branch, Dindugal district, on a Habeas Corpus petition filed by a lady lawyer to produce a naxalite before the court, in the wake of the gunning down of an outlaw in an encounter by the police at Kodaikanal.

A Division Bench, comprising Mr Justices P K Mishra and M Sathyanarayanan, directed the authorities concerned to file a counter on April 28.

In her petitions, Ms Senkodi submitted that two naxals, Naveen and Viswanathan alias Viswalingam, were arrested by the police on April 12. Subsequently, Naveen was shot dead at point blank range by the police a week later.

Apprehending that Viswanathan could also meet with the same fate, she sought a direction to the police to produce him before the court and set him at liberty.

She also prayed for a direction to the Q Branch Police and the Dharmapuri District Collector to conduct a second post-mortem on the body of Naveen in the presence of an independent doctor and videograph it.

Another petitioner Kesavan submitted that Viswanathan, Sekar, Chandra and Kalidas were taken by the police and their whereabouts were not known. The petitioner sought the court to direct the police to produce them before it.

Add CommentsNEW DELHI, April 24 (UPI) -- India said the threat to internal security from left-wing extremism showed a steep rise in 2007.The Interior Ministry said in its status paper on Maoist activities that 696 casualties were reported in 1,565 incidents in 2007; in 2006, there were 678 deaths in 1,509 cases of violence.

The document expressed concern over vacancies in state police forces and noted that such vacancies need to be filled to improve the police-population ratio.

The higher number of incidents and casualties in the two worst-hit states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have been attributed to the increased use of improvised-explosive devices and landmines by the rebels, attacks on security forces and counter-operations by security forces against the rebels, the ministry said.

Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand accounted for 68 percent of all incidents and more than 75 percent of all casualties in 2007.

The document said Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa together account for more than 80 percent of the cases, adding these states saw 1,266 incidents.

Guwahati: Violence across India's North-eastern states often puts an unfortunate stamp of insecurity in the entire region. Now, the insurgency is becoming a major concern.

For the first time, the number of violent incidents and civilian casualties have overtaken even the figures in Jammu & Kashmir.

A Home Affairs Ministry report says: "North-eastern states recorded 1,500 incidents as compared to 1,000 in Jammu & Kashmir last year. Among them, Assam had the highest number of civilian casualties — 314."

Peace Studies professor, Guwahati University, Dr Nani Mahanta says, "It cannot be seen in isolation. The fact is that in J&K, in a very small way, the peace process has started and secondly Pakistan's role in instigating terrorism has also come down. It's also a fact that civilian casualties in Northeast in general and Assam in particular have gone up in recent times particularly in 2007."

However, even with the shadow of the gun across Northeast, some believe that it's more of fear in the mind that's making the situation worse than it is and stopping any including potential investors from looking east.

Ranchi, April 24(ANI): Home Minister Shivraj Patil recently stated in the Parliament that the government has taken a multi-pronged approach to counter the spread of Naxalism in the country.Along with taking security measures to contain the Naxalites, the Government is taking steps to improve the living standards of the people. People have realised that violence does not help them.Many village leaders have been able to mobilize people. This has not been liked by Naxalites and they have tried to eliminate them.The recent killing of Bhado Singh in Semra-Bhandratoli in broad daylight has been one such incident. It has shocked people. He was the leader of a self-help group of his village and held in high esteem.Bhados assassination along with eight others has left Gudma villagers in grief.Bhubneshwari Devi, widow of Bhado Singh, asks the Naxalites Why was her husband, a representative of the peace group — Shanti Sena –killed? She says: My husband was the sole -earning member the family. He used to look after all the members.Villagers in Naxal-affected areas of Jharkhand want to be left alone by the Naxalites who have been trying to persuade them to be a part of their movement with the promise that they would take steps to provide them a better life.Jharkhands Chief Minister Madhu Koda has visited Semra Bhandratoli and announced an ex gratia amount of rupees 100,000 and a government job to a member of the family of Bhado Singh. He also met Bhados aggrieved family members.After years of neglect, the administration has started helping the villagers to improve their livelihood. But this has not been appreciated by Naxalites. (ANI)

CHENNAI: Worried by recent attempts of Maoists to regroup themselves in the mountainous Theni region, the state police on Wednesday apprised the chief secretary L K Tripathy about tribal youths possibly being lured into the movement.

According to highly placed sources in the police, the Chief Secretary was briefed about Naxal movements in the state during a law and order review meeting held at the secretariat by senior intelligence wing police officials.

"The chief Secretary has been told about this new development. The Maoists have tried to build a support base in the backward districts of Tamil Nadu but could not succeed so far. Now we fear they have managed to get support of the youths in Theni and Madurai districts. But the threat is not very alarming. However recent movements have made us alert," a police official said.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

KOLKATA:With panchayat polls round the corner in West Bengal, the state police anticipate a major bloodbath in certain pockets in coming days. However, the terror threat this time is more from external elements than internal goons, as five most-wanted Maoist sharp-shooters are believed to have sneaked into West Bengal from neighbouring Jharkhand and Bihar with the sole intention of creating panic during the polls.

The Left Wing Extremism Section (LWES), under the Intelligence Branch (IB) of the state police, has recently secured several incriminating documents which confirm the entry of these five sharp-shooters.

LWES officials stumbled into this evidence during a recent raid in Nadia district, where they also secured a fresh Maoist hit-list containing names of several senior CPI(M) leaders. During the raid, senior Maoist leader and a central committee member of Communist Party of India (Maoist), popularly known as comrade Prasenjit, was also arrested along with six other most-wanted guerrillas.

Interrogations of those arrested confirmed the entry of sharp-shooters from Bihar and Jharkhand to create panic during the panchayat polls. IB special superintendent A Kumar confirmed the arrest and interrogation of Maoists by LWES sleuths. It is learnt that during the raid, sophisticated weapons like SLR rifles, light machine guns, mortars and landmines were recovered.

Meanwhile, IB sources told DNA that the team of shooters is probably headed by a most-wanted category Maoist guerrilla and a high-level CPI(Maoist) central committee leader comrade Dhrub. A BSc graduate and fluent in the many languages, Dhrub was trained in Chattisgarh. His rise within the party has been meteoric, mainly because of his skills in handling sophisticated arms, as well as in organising armed movements even in the most adverse conditions.

As per preliminary information with LWES, the intention of the Maoists visitors is not to add to the fire power of their comrades in their existing stronghold districts of Bankura, Puruliya and West Midnapore.

“A careful study of the documents seized by our experts have revealed Dhrub and his men’s main intention is to create panic in new areas. “According to information available with us they have identified Malda, Murshidabad and Nadia as their new target areas,” a senior IB official told DNA. He also said that the police in these three districts have been specially alerted. “Nadia and Murshidabad, being Indo-Bangladesh bordering districts, the BSF battalions posted there have also been alerted to foil any attempts by Maoist guerrillas to cross over to Bangladesh,” he said.c_sumanta@dnaindia.net

Special attention is being given on planning, implementation and monitoring of development schemes in naxalite affected areas. Under the Backward Districts Initiative, which covered 147 districts, an amount of Rs. 45 crore per district had been allocated on a non-lapsable basis. This has now been replaced by the Backward Regions Grant Fund, in 250 districts. National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, which was originally being implemented in 200 districts, and was extended to 330 districts in April 2007, is now being extended to all districts in the Country, having regard to the need to universalise this demand-driven programme for wage-employment. These schemes are in addition to various income-generating, public-utility and social-security schemes of different Ministries like Rural Development, Agriculture, Health and Family Welfare, Youth Affairs and Sports, Panchayati Raj and Tribal Affairs.

An Inter Ministerial Group under Additional Secretary (Naxal Management) in the Ministry of Home Affairs oversees effective implementation of development schemes in naxalite affected areas for accelerated socio-economic development.

Coming down heavily on what she alleged 'free run' of militants in Tamil Nadu, AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa on Monday (April 21) said the state had become a safe haven for militants.

Referring to the killing of a naxalite in Kodaikanal hills, she said the incident only proved her point.

The Karunanidhi government was not taking the issue seriously, she alleged adding the people were waiting for a change of government to control the menace.

The naxalite movement in Kodaikanal hills would affect tourist arrivals to the famous hills, she said in a statement.

A police team combing a forest area gunned down a ‘hardcore’ Maoist on Saturday (April 19) near Kodaikanal in southern Tamil Nadu after an exchange of fire. It was the first armed encounter with the extremist group in six years, police said.

The team, drawn from the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force and the ‘Q’ Branch, gunned down Naveen alias Prashant (25) near Vadakonji, a tribal village in an "exchange of fire".

Police said Naveen’s killing would be a setback to the Maoists’ efforts to widen their base in the moutainous Teni district in south Tamil Nadu. In November 2002, the police were involved in a major anti-Maoist operation, when they swooped down on a group of 35 extremists at Uthangarai in Dharmapuri district.

One of them was killed then, and 28 others arrested. Naveen was one of those who escaped from Uthangarai during that operation, police said.

"We got information that at least five hardcore Maoists were camping in this tribal village. We started this combing operation two days ago, and we found a group of six in the forest. We shot one while the others fled. We are now on their trail," a senior police officer told The Times Of India.

Police sources said DGP K P Jain had instructed the team to record every incident on video camera to preclude controversies. The team went into the forests with a video camera and a GPS system.

They said Naveen was involved in three earlier cases involving Naxals. The police are now hot on the trail of those who escaped. "They are carrying weapons, but we hope to nab them soon."

Since last year, Maoist activity has been witnessed in the southern districts of the state, especially in Theni. Intense pressure on them due to anti-naxal operations being carried out in Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh may have forced the Maoists to regroup in isolated villages in Tamil Nadu.

Their practice was to hide in remote villages and seek to raise support for their cause by distributing radical literature and pamphlets.

A group of Maoists was arrested last year in a hillock near Murugamalai in Theni district. Later, the state police nabbed V. Sundaramoorthy, said to be the Maoist kingpin in the state.

The state police had sent a team there on a tip-off from a suspect who was detained earlier from Palamalai. Six suspected Maoists were nabbed, but not before a firefight. The others however managed to flee the scene. A gun was seized.

The seizure came two days after a Maoist rebel was killed in an encounter in the area.

Krishnamurthy said an intense search was on to nab the Maoists who had escaped from the police dragnet and neighbouring states also have been alerted.

This is the first time after 1970 that Tamil Nadu Police has launched a major operation to crack down on Naxal activities.

In 1970, the special police force, headed by former state police chief Walter Dewaram had curtailed their activities in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts, considered Naxal strongholds during that time.

The Special Task force, which was formed recently after reports of resurgence of Naxal activities in remote areas, killed a Maoist identified as Naveen Prasanth and took two others into custody.

Police said investigations revealed that a Theni-based woman doctor and Communist party members based in that town were also helping the Maoists.

Hospitals in Theni, Dindigul and border areas were being closely monitored and checkposts set up. There was also a plan to deploy more intelligence wing personnel in hilly villages and in the coastal belt to curb the Maoists activities and to prevent arms training in remote areas.

DIG (Intelligence) Shankar Jiwal is camping in the area to monitor the overall operations.

Police officials said the Maoists have sympathisers in Theni and Dindigul districts and steps should be taken to cut off their supply lines.

A report from Dharmapuri, meanwhile, said that the body of Maoist Naveen Prasanth, who was killed in the encounter, was buried at his native village Mookanur.

Meanwhile, a retired official of the Intelligence Bureau has suggested that a team of intelligence officials be posted in border districts, which are strategic points for the Naxals.

"If they keep moving from one district to the other or from Tamil Nadu to Kerala and back, then it would turn out to be a wild goose chase," he said.

There should be coordination with police forces of neighbouring states, which was lacking at present, he added.

Chief Minister M Karunanidhi called upon the political parties and the public to extend their cooperation for rooting out Naxalite menace from Tamilnadu.

The government along with the police force has been taking all steps to prevent the spread of Naxalites in the State.

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Karunanidhi was replying to the call attention motion in the Assembly Tuesday over the shooting of an extremist in Kodaikanal hills after the question hour.

Raising the issue, O Panneer-selvam, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, cited reports that the shooting down of Naxalite Navin Prasad in Kodaikanal on 19 April had led to the escape of 15 of his colleagues from their hideouts.

Though Dharmapuri was considered as the hot bed for Naxalites, there were reports that nine other districts in Tamilnadu have come under the grip of this extremist menace, he said.

Further, he said in the previous AIADMK regime, the extremists were hunted down with iron hand and forest brigand Veerappan was shot dead, thus bringing an end to his atrocities, Panneerselvam said.

‘Whereas during the DMK rule, extremist forces have begun spread across Tamilnadu thus posing grave threat to law and order.

Instead of taking care of law and order, the police under the orders of the ruling party had clamped down on the political activities of the Opposition,’ charged Panneerselvam.

Joining the debate, Congress MLA Peter Alphonse called upon the government to find the reason for the rise of extremism and pave the way for the return of the alienated rural youth to the democratic path.

He said youth were taking up the cause of Naxalism after they had to face social injustice in the form of unemployment and discrimination in many walks of life. Echoing similar views, PMK member Arumugam said the police and the law-enforcement agencies have to take preventive measures against the spread of Naxalism.

CPI-M MLA Balabharati said his party would extend all help to the government to curb the menace of Naxalism which was the result of hegemonistic political leading to social discrimination.

Flaying the AIADMK view that law and order had worsened in the State, CPI MLA Sivapunniyam said the reasons for the mushrooming of extremism should be found and suitable actions should be taken by the government.

Replying to the views of the members, Karunanidhi said the government has taken up a series of measures following outbreak of extremist violence in neighbouring States.

These measures include preventive, monitoring steps, fortifying the border points of the State, installing check posts at vulnerable pockets of the border to prevent infiltration of naxalites from other States and taking care to avoid the possibility of Naxal growth in forest belt and coastal zones, he explained.

Further, Karunanidhi said during this government 24 extremists were arrested so far, including two under the National Security Act.

He assured the members that the government would look into the reason for the youth taking up arms and find means to wean them away from the path of extremism.

For the government to achieve success in its endeavour to curb Naxalism, he sought the cooperation of political parties and public.

Chennai (PTI): Amid reports of attempts by Maoists to establish bases in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Tuesday asked political parties, including opposition AIADMK, to close ranks to fight the 'Maoist menace'. "During times of natural calamity like floods or earthquake, where people are affected, we all work unitedly to help them. Naxalism is a similar situation that calls for joint working from all the parties," he said in the State Assembly.

Replying to a special call attention motion on the recent killing of a naxal in Kodaikanal by the Special Task Force (STF), moved by the Opposition AIADMK as well as DMK allies the Congress, PMK, CPI and CPI(M), Karunanidhi presented details of police action taken by successive governments. Claiming that more action has been taken during his regimes (including the 1996-2001 period), he said he was not in anyway undermining the efforts of the Opposition party in dealing with the Maoists. "I present these facts only to show that naxal-related activities have been found during the tenures of both DMK and AIAMDK," Karunanidhi said.

The DMK leader also suggested finding the root cause behind "youth getting attracted to armed struggle" in naxal-infested areas and said if their grievances were redressed properly, they would never take up arms.

"Do they lack education? If be so, what is the reason? Economic conditions? If that is the propelling factor, then we should take steps to improve the conditions," he said in his reply.

New Delhi, April 22: Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa have together accounted for over 80 percent of the total incidents of naxal violence during 2007, a Home Ministry report on Tuesday said.

"There has been a concentration of violence incidents and casualties mainly in some districts of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and, to some extent, in some areas in Bihar and Orissa," the Ministry's Annual Report for 2007-08 said.

Out of the total of 1,565 incidents in 2007, these four states accounted for 1,266 incidents. Likewise, out of the total casualty of 696, the four states together claimed 610 lives.

The report said several naxalite groups have been operating in certain parts of the country for a few decades now. But, in macro terms, the number of incidents has remained broadly at the same level during the past few years.

It said that after the merger of Peoples War Group (PWG) and Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) into CPI (Maoist), the outfit has been seen as the "most active and strident" front of naxalism in the country.

Going into the factors leading to the problem, it said naxalites typically operate in the vacuum created by functional inadequacy of field level governance structures, espouse local demands, and take advantage of prevalent dissatisfaction and feelings of perceived neglect and injustice among the under privileged and remote segments of populations.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Bhubaneswar, April 21: Disapproving neighbouring Chhattishgarh's Salwa Judum type group to counter the Maoist menace, Orissa government was preparing a 'holistic plan' with focus on development to wipe out red rebels from the state.

"We are in the process of preparing the plan which will be submitted to the central government by end of this month," Chief Secretary Ajit Tripathy said.

The state would make certain recommendations to the centre for amending guidelines of some central schemes like Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and rural electrification scheme in this regard, he said.

The state government had taken two worst Maoist affected districts like Malkangiri and Rayagada for implementation of the proposed plan.

"We have at least 14 of the 30 districts identified as Maoist affected districts. To start with, the government has decided to take Malkangiri and Rayagada districts for the prroject," said Home Secretary T K Mishra.

According to Mishra, the funds meant for the holistic plan would meet the critical gaps of other schemes. For instance, drawing road connectivity to villages having less than 250 population. "We are unable to provide roads to small villages as the PMGSY guidelines which says that the village should have population above 250," he said.

The home secretary said that Orissa had a large number of small population villages, particularly in tribal dominated districts. Maoists were taking advantage in tribal dominated districts due to certain gaps in the schemes, he said. Official sources said the state government engaged itself in preparing the plan as per a direction of the centre which had agreed to spend Rs 500 crore in various Maoist affected districts of the country during the next five years.

Though only eight of the 81 Maoist infested districts across the country were selected for the funds this year, Orissa got two districts. "We are planning to have three more districts like Sambalpur, Deogarh and Gajapati in the second phase," a senior official said.

Optimistic of getting Rs 25 crore per annum to undertake developmental activities in the two selected districts, the home secretary said the centre should provide more funds to the state in view of its backwardness.

When contacted, Deputy Inspector General of North-Central Range Arun Sarangi said besides several central and state welfare schemes, special works should be done in Maoist infested districts according to requirement.

For instance, the dig said, there should be adequate number of housing facilities for the security personnel who were fighting with the Naxalites inside jungles. "We too need helipads for easy movement of personnel and transportation of injured jawans to hospitals," he said.

This apart, the chief secretary said that there were many unseen situations which also required funds to be spent immediately in Maoist infested areas. "There should be some emergency funds with the district collectors and SPs to meet such eventualities," he said adding that these were considered as critical gaps.

Of the 14 districts identified as Maoist infested by the state, only nine were covered under the centre's security related expenditure scheme, giving the government a headache about how to arrange funds for the rest of the districts.

Bhubaneswar : Even though the confidence of outlawed Red Rebels are on all time high since the outcome of the Nepal's first Constituent Assembly, Orissa Government would not go for Salwa Judum type of campaign against the Maoists like its Chhattisgarh counter part.

The State Home Department was preparing a holistic plan with focus on development to wipe out red rebels and the plan would be submitted to Union Home Ministry by end of April, highly places sources said on Monday.

The State would make certain recommendations to the Centre for amending guidelines of some central schemes like Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and rural electrification scheme in this regard.

The State Government had taken two worst maoist affected districts like Malkangiri and Rayagada for implementation of the proposed plan.

Orissa had a large number of small population villages, particularly in tribal dominated districts. Maoists were taking advantage in tribal dominated districts due to certain gaps in the schemes, senior police officials said.

Meanwhile, State DGP Gopal Nanda had convened an emergency meeting of the senior officers to discuss about the possible fallout of the results of the recent polls in Nepal which saw the Maoists reaching a simple majority in the first phase of elections to the country's first constituent assembly.

According to the sources the closed-door that last for over two hours had focused on the strategies needed to be prepared so as not to allow the Maoists activists of Orissa to establish any "effective link" with the "red" rebels of Nepal.

It also stressed the need for depriving the Maoists getting direct support across the border.

BHUBANESWAR: The Centre has set up a committee under special secretary (internal security) to bring about coordination in police forces of various states in dealing with the Naxalites.

To a question from Rudra Narayan Pany (BJP) and BJ Panda (BJD) in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said that in the process of reviews and interactions with the State governments concerned, it has been felt appropriate that an integrated approach focused on the relatively more affected areas would help in optimal utilisation of resources.

Jaiswal said that with this in view, eight affected districts in four states, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa, have been taken up by the state governments for implementation of integrated action plans covering security, operations and development aspects.

The Minister said that the overall impact of various proposed steps can only be assessed over a period of time.

KARIMNAGAR: THE police arrested two more members of Telangana Jagarana Sena (TJS), an outfit allegedly created by some former Naxals, on Saturday evening in Sircilla and recovered two 0.9 mm pistols and 24 rounds from them. With these arrests, the TJS has been wiped out in the district, claimed Superintendent of Police Y Gangadhar.

Speaking to mediapersons here today, the SP reminded that Sircilla police had, earlier, arrested seven members of the gang. One other member was held in Hyderabad. The arrests, the SP claimed, had helped the police in foiling an assassination bid on a legislator.

The members had even conducted a recce for the same, he revealed. He said police were keeping a vigil on former Naxals to check anti-social activities.

The arrested members include Vemula Ramesh aka Sagar and Chepyala Raju, both natives of Konraopet mandal in Sircilla division. Both of them worked for Maoists in the past.

NAGPUR: Acting tough on the naxals, who are on a hunger strike, the Dhantoli police has registered cases of attempt to suicide. In all 12 males and a female naxal were booked on Sunday. Undeterred though the naxals, have kept the hunger strike, which started on April 7, on in the jail.

It was has been learnt that following the hunger strike in Nagpur's central jail, naxal inmates in Amravati jail too joined in the protest but later withdrew their agitation.

Four naxal inmates were admitted to the jail hospital after their health deteriorated. One of them reportedly was discharged later. Jail administration has reportedly shifted the protesting inmates and kept at different undisclosed locations in the jail. Sources in jail administration claimed that some of the protesting inmates are likely to be transferred to other jails too.

The issue of naxals' protest had echoed the ongoing state assembly session in Mumbai and deputy chief minister R R Patil had order an inquiry into whole matter. Chief of state anti-naxal operation cell Pankaj Gupta was entrusted with the job of conducting the probe and send the report to the government. It has been learnt that Gupta has even sent his report to the government.

Bhubaneswar Worried over increasing Naxal activities in the state, the Orissa government has decided to prepare a long-term blueprint to contain the menace by clubbing developmental programmes with security measures.

‘‘Developmental activities as well as security preparedness will be our strategy to check the march of the red brigade in the state’’, says state principal secretary, home, TK Mishra.

The two dreaded naxalite outfits—CPI (Maoist) and the CPIML (Janashakti) —are quite active in the state. While the CPI(Maoist) is operating in southern, northern and north-western districts,Janashakti is active in Keonjhar, Jajpur and Dhenkanal districts.

In 2007, 15 persons were killed in as many as 52 Naxal-related violence. What,however, made the state government sit up is the attacks in early 2008 on Nayagaraha, a district headquarter town, about 80 km from the state capital, Bhubaneswar, where the Naxals raided the district police armoury and looted weapons, killing about 15 policemen.

The state government has increased surveillance by establishing a special investigation wing and stepped up offensive by formation of a special operations group. All the 83 police stations in the Naxal-infested districts have been fortified.

Now, the government is planning to beef up security measures while taking up developmental programmes in these areas. The Centre has made a provision of Rs 500 crore for implementation of the programme over a period of five years in all Naxal-affected states.

Orissa will soon submit a report to the Centre seeking financial assistance of Rs 25 crore for 2008-09. Other than developmental activities, the plan will include fortification of prisons and police stations.‘‘In the first phase, the plan will be implemented in Rayagada and Malkangiri districts as a pilot project’’, says the state home secretary. This will be executed in Sambalpur, Deogarh and Gajapati districts in the next phase, he added.

In Orissa, Malkangiri and Rayagada have been included in category-1 Naxalite-affected districts, while Deogarh, Gajapati and Sambalpur are in category-2. Ganjam, Koraput, Nabarangpur,Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Sundargarh are in category-3 districts. Gajapati, Ganjam,Keonjhar, Koraput, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Rayagada and Sundargarh districts have been included in the security-related expenditure scheme.

Chennai (PTI): A day after a Maoist was shot dead by the Special Task Force in Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu police have stepped up investigation to verify weather the Maoists are establishing new bases in the state.

Police sources admitted that it was a "new area" considering the geographical space the Maoists "generally operate in."

"We are looking into the issue and are investigating whether they are spreading across the state or intending shifting base," police sources told PTI here on Sunday.

With some "important information" on hand about two other members of the outlawed outfit, who are believed to have escaped from the place, the police is working to nab them.

Top officials of the force are camping at Vadakuvanchi near Perumalpallam on Kodaikanal-Palani Road, where Nitish Dinesh Kumar, initially identified as Naveen Prasanth, was killed by Special Task Force (STF) in an operation on Saturday.

Two others who had been injured in the encounter had been caught on Saturday itself.

Saturday's incident was the second in the recent months, when the ultras were spotted well outside their strongholds of Dharmapuri.

One Vinoth (27) had been killed in an encounter near Marugamalai in Theni district in December, and five suspected naxalites were arrested.

Ruling out any infiltration attempts by the Red brigade from states like the nearby Andhra Pradesh or other naxal-affected states in the country to Tamil Nadu, sources said "there are no new persons (Maoists) in the state except the existing groups. Intense operations are on to nab them also," they said

CHENNAI: Attempts by Maoists to make inroads into Tamil Nadu are becoming apparent. A police team combing a forest area gunned down a ‘hardcore’ Maoist on Saturday near Kodaikanal in southern Tamil Nadu after an exchange of fire. It was the first armed encounter with the extremist group in six years, police said.

The team, drawn from the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force and the ‘Q’ Branch, gunned down Naveen alias Prashant (25) near Vadakonji, a tribal village in an "exchange of fire".

Police said Naveen’s killing would be a setback to the Maoists’ efforts to widen their base in the moutainous Teni district in south Tamil Nadu. In November 2002, the police were involved in a major anti-Maoist operation, when they swooped down on a group of 35 extremists at Uthangarai in Dharmapuri district.

One of them was killed then, and 28 others arrested. Naveen was one of those who escaped from Uthangarai during that operation, police said.

"We got information that at least five hardcore Maoists were camping in this tribal village. We started this combing operation two days ago, and we found a group of six in the forest. We shot one while the others fled. We are now on their trail," a senior police officer told The Times Of India.

Police sources said DGP K P Jain had instructed the team to record every incident on video camera to preclude controversies. The team went into the forests with a video camera and a GPS system.

They said Naveen was involved in three earlier cases involving Naxals. The police are now hot on the trail of those who escaped. "They are carrying weapons, but we hope to nab them soon."

Since last year, Maoist activity has been witnessed in the southern districts of the state, especially in Theni. Intense pressure on them due to anti-naxal operations being carried out in Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh may have forced the Maoists to regroup in isolated villages in Tamil Nadu.

Their practice was to hide in remote villages and seek to raise support for their cause by distributing radical literature and pamphlets.

A group of Maoists was arrested last year in a hillock near Murugamalai in Theni district. Later, the state police nabbed V. Sundaramoorthy, said to be the Maoist kingpin in the state.

The state police had sent a team there on a tip-off from a suspect who was detained earlier from Palamalai. Six suspected Maoists were nabbed, but not before a firefight. The others however managed to flee the scene. A gun was seized.

Kodaikanal (Tamil Nadu), April 19 (IANS) A 30-year-old man was gunned down by a members of a special task force of the Tamil Nadu police Saturday near the holiday resort of Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul district. The alleged Maoist, Naveen Prasanth, was killed and another man injured in an encounter that the security forces had with a group of five on the Kodaikanal-Palani road, nearly 600 km south of Chennai, the police said.

Three of the alleged Maoists escaped, police said, adding that the dead man “had received arms training at a Naxal camp at Dharmapuri and was an expert in handling various sophisticated arms”.

Following reports of Maoists’ movements in the forests of the Western Ghats, police have stepped up search for them in the Nilgiris, Dharmapuri, Dindigul and Theni districts of Tamil Nadu and in the jungles of Kodaikanal, Periyakulam and Palani hill areas.

Police sources said that local Maoists had celebrated the victory of the Nepal Maoists in last week’s elections by distributing sweets.

Dindigul (TN) (PTI): A Maoist was killed on the spot and another injured when a Special Task Force team surrounded five ultras and fired at them at Vadakavunchi near Perumpallam on the Kodaikanal-Palani road, 80 km from here early on Saturday, police said.

Police said Naveen Prasanth (30) was killed on the spot. Three others managed to escape.

Naveen Prasanth had received arms training at a Naxal camp at Dharmapuri and was an expert in handling various sophisticated arms, police said.

The name of the injured Maoist was not known immediately.

Police had launched a massive hunt in Kodaikanal and Periyakulam hill areas following reports that Maoists were roaming around the area with the intention of setting up a base for arms training, the sources said.

KHAMMAM: In an obvious attempt to avenge the March-18 encounter at Kanchala village in Bijapur district of Chattisgarh in which 17 of their comrades were killed, the Moists shot down 11 Girijans and four Salwa Judum volunteers a week ago holding them responsible for tipping off the police about their movements.

The abducted Judum cadres were brought to the Kanchala village and subjected to torture for a week. It is reliably learnt that Maoists had conducted a people’s court in the village Thursday night before all the 15 tribals were shot down.

One Pandu of Chattisgarh, who was running a grinding mill at Tippapuram village, was done to death by Maoists three days ago holding him responsible for leading the police to the site where Maoists were killed.

She was also incharge of Venkatapuram, Cherla and Wajedu local guerilla squads.A key member in Maoist party in the Bhadrachalam agency for many years, Renukakka carried a reward of Rs 3 lakh. She is a native of Lingala in Warangal district.

The SP told mediapersons that Renukakka, wife of Jampanna, alias J Narasimha Reddy, a Maoist central committee member and secretary of State Maoist party, joined the extremist outfit in 1994 and worked in Eturunagaram dalam till 2000.

From 2000 to 2003, she worked in Mahadevapuram dalam in Warangal. Later, she was shifted to Khammam district and was made incharge of three mandals in Bhadrachalam Agency area.

She was involved in three encounters in Warangal and Karimnagar districts, six murder cases and participated in blasting incidents held at Venkatapuram, Satyanarayanapuram, Alubaka telephone exchanges and Cherla mandal development office.

Renukakka said that she had surrendered due to ill-health and expressed her intention to join the mainstream and lead a peaceful life in her native village Lingala. The SP said that Renukakka would be rehabilitated and appealed to other Moists in the district to join the mainstream.

Umesh Chandra

Umesh Chandra, IPS was bold and daring in dealing with the naxalites. He relentlessly pursued the apprehension of extremists, naxalites and other anti-social elements. He planned and led all counter-terrorist operations himself.